News of the Day From Across the Nation

Chronicle News Services

Updated 3:01 pm, Friday, June 9, 2017

1Ethics rebuke: White House social media director Dan Scavino violated the law when he used an official-looking Twitter account for campaign purposes, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel has concluded, issuing Scavino a letter of admonishment. The agency concluded that Scavino, one of President Trump’s most trusted aides, violated the Hatch Act, which bars most executive branch officials from using their government positions to influence elections. The decision came over a tweet from Scavino calling for the defeat of Rep. Justin Amash in a GOP primary in Michigan. Amash is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group that Trump blamed at the time for derailing legislation that would have repealed parts of the 2010 Affordable Care Act.

2Manning interview: Chelsea Manning believed she had a “responsibility to the public” and didn’t think she was risking national security when she leaked a trove of classified documents, the soldier said in her first interview since being released from a military prison last month. The 29-year-old formerly known as Bradley Manning said in an interview broadcast Friday on ABC that she was prompted to give the 700,000 military and State Department documents to WikiLeaks because of the human toll of the “death, destruction and mayhem” she saw as an Army intelligence analyst in Iraq. Manning served seven years of a 35-year sentence, which was commuted by former President Barack Obama.

3Bribery case: A contracting representative for the U.S. Army has pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to a federal bribery charge involving fraudulent invoices submitted by South Korean contractors. The U.S. attorney’s office said Marcus Flowers, 50, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit bribery. The offense carries a maximum of five years in prison. Prosecutors say he accepted bribes worth at least $170,000.

4Congressman plea: Greg Gianforte will plead guilty to assaulting a reporter the day before he was elected last month as Montana’s only congressman, a prosecutor said Friday. Gianforte will appear Monday in Gallatin County Justice Court to be arraigned and sentenced on the misdemeanor charge. The Republican reached a civil settlement with Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs over claims that Gianforte knocked Jacobs to the ground when the reporter asked him a question May 24. Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert said Gianforte will plead guilty. Gianforte spokesman Shane Scanlon did not respond to messages.

5Drug charges: After 26 years on the lam, a man dubbed by investigators as one of Miami’s last “cocaine cowboys” pleaded not guilty Friday to decades-old drug trafficking charges that could land him in prison for life. Gustavo Falcon, 55, is charged in a 1991 indictment claiming he was part of a major cocaine smuggling operation during the 1980s. He vanished in 1991. Falcon was arrested April 12 in Kissimmee while on a bike ride with his wife, Amelia, who was not charged.